Ruger is rolling out a new version of the LC9, the “LC9s”.

The “S” of course, means “Striker”.  It is said that this has a very good trigger pull.   If that’s the case, and it really does have a good trigger pull… well then.  That changes things in regards to my opinion of the LC9.  The S model would then be a pistol well worth considering.    Let me tell you why.

This shows that the new Ruger is not the same old Ruger company of old.   Because this shows that Ruger looked at what Glock did with the Model 42 and what everyone said about it… “It should have been a 9mm”.  And Ruger responded.   This is what the 42 should have been.  A Sub-Compact, narrow, single-stack, 9mm striker-fired pistol, with good sights and a good trigger.

Unlike what you might read in some Gun Rags – a shitty trigger in a sub compact does not make it safer.  It makes it harder to hit your target in a vital zone.  And that makes it in fact, more dangerous.  I submit that these small guns with their small grips and super short sight radius are very hard to shoot well with, and further handicapping them with terrible trigger pulls is an act of treachery that  the gun industry and the gun media have pulled on all of us.   Because with everything being more difficult with small guns, the trigger pull becomes all the more important to making that critical shot when it really counts.

It’s like this… serious Rifle Marksmen get all misty-eyed when they finally get a good ounce weight trigger in their 9 pound rifle.  Where as pistol shooters are dealing with 9 pound triggers in their ounce weight pistols.  And some of these smaller pistols have triggers that go over 14 pounds, literally off the scale of most trigger pull gauges.  I one had to use a Fishing Scale to get a read on one trigger.  19 pounds and I’m not kidding.  It was a Magnum Research Micro Eagle.  And it’s not just the weight.  It’s the quality of the pull… Most small guns have gritty, rough, heavy triggers that break like your pushing a car off a cliff.    To be accurate with a handgun – any handgun – trigger pull is the most important thing.  Sight alignment, sight picture, stance, grip, breathing, front sight focus… you can have all of that PERFECT.  And a bad trigger pull will still make you miss.   Reverse this, and you can have a perfect trigger pull, and you can be slightly off on that sight alignment – and you can still hit in the black.   Might not be dead nuts on, but you are still hitting.   Now combine a mouse guns poor sights, and completely worthless trigger in a gun you can’t get a good grip on.  This is why people thing small guns are inaccurate.  This is a misconception.  Now look at the Glock 26.  Glock’s sub-compact 9mm.  This thing… It’s small, sure… but it’s thick enough you can grip it, has good sights and a good trigger.   You can actually shoot a 26 very well.  In truth, the Glock 26 just might be the most accurate pistol Glock makes.  If you concentrate and do everything right, the 26 will shock you.

Okay, now back to the Ruger LC9s.   Good sights.  Good trigger.  Slim package that you can EDC concealed.  This is a winning combination.   Ruger is doing it right.   Their SR series of guns have improved since they first came out.  When I first saw them, I didn’t like them.  Then they grudgingly earned my respect.  Now?  Yeah, I like them.  They are good guns.  Very good guns.  And Ruger works hard at backing them up.   I wouldn’t be surprised at all if a couple ended up in my collection.  The SR45 especially.  And a Compact.    But the SR45’s 10+1 Capacity of .45 Auto is a good payload for any double-stack .45 and it’s in a gun that doesn’t feel ludicrous in the hand like some… FNH FNX for example.  And from what I learned from a local LEO, the SR45 shoots amazingly well.   I hope to try one out soon.   And this little LC9s… Yeah, I’d buy one.   I’d even carry it.